INTEGRATED TRUTH <511> – BIBLICAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP (6) – The attitude of an entrepreneur is critical because it determines the altitude. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. (Pr 23:7) The mindset of an entrepreneur will shape the type of enterprise he leads. Apple lured John Sculley (who was recognized worldwide as an expert in marketing with an institutional mindset) from Pepsi in apply his marketing skills to the personal computer market. Steve Jobs (an inventor with an entrepreneurial mindset) successfully sealed the deal after he made his legendary pitch to Sculley: “Do you want to peddle sugared water for the rest of your life or do you want to change the world?” After Sculley accepted the offer to take over as president of Apple, it was a cultural shock and devastating for both Sculley and Apple’s engrained entrepreneurial approach in doing business. The clash between two different mindsets resulted Job resigned from Apple and founded NeXT Inc in 1985. Jobs eventually took back the reins of running Apple in 1997 after Apple purchased NeXT Inc for $427m.

This experience awakened Sculley to the operating dynamics of a corporate culture and way of thinking that was entrepreneurial rather that of his institutional mindset. An amazing insight into the entrepreneurial approach to business was outlined by Sculley in his book, “Odyssey: Pepsi to Apple”. Let me summarize his insights from his experience: the main focus for institutional mindset is on the organization, while entrepreneurial mindset is more on the individual creativity. For the most part, innovation in the institution serves to reduce risk in order to maintain and improve existing products. Every invention is an innovation but not every innovation is an invention. The ability sought in an institution gives focus to manage the status quo; whereas entrepreneurially it is the ability to embrace and adapt to change. Since biblical entrepreneurship is about managing risk and opportunity, it fits more closely to the interaction of faith and risk in a Kingdom setting.

The expected output for the institutional mindset is market-share, whereas the entrepreneur mindset is about market creation. The leadership focus of institution tends to orientate towards micro-management, whereas entrepreneurial focus is more about motivating and nurturing talents. For the institutional mindset, the product is an artefact or a service, whereas the entrepreneurial product is a dream. The primary motivation for an institutional thinker is to make money, whereas for an entrepreneurial thinker, it is to make history through transformation.

Prayers for today:
Lord, let our mindset be transformed by your Words into a biblical entrepreneurial mindset to bring the Kingdom culture into all our enterprises. In Jesus’ name. Amen.